Apple has introduced an option for iTunes customers to purchase an entire season of a TV series after they've purchased individual shows, while the existing service for music is no longer restrained by a time limit.

'Complete My Season Pass'

The new iTunes feature rolled out earlier this week, and allows users who purchased single shows from a TV series the chance to own the entire season at the discounted "Season Pass" price.

Previously, customers had the option to either purchase individual episodes or a Season Pass, which offers all episodes of a season at a price comparatively lower than buying ala carte.

The new system allows users to deduct the price of already owned episodes from the already discounted Season Pass price, and is similar to the existing "Complete My Album" iTunes music feature.

Complete My Season Pass can be found in the iTunes Store after logging in and navigating to a TV show of which a user owns one or more episodes. There is also a Complete My Season Pass landing page on the iTunes frontpage.

Time limit for 'Complete My Album' removed

Following the introduction of Complete My Season Pass, Apple on Wednesday lifted the restrictive window in which users had to take advantage of the Complete My Album iTunes feature.

The previous deadline for upgrading an album was set at 180 days after first purchasing a track from an album. Identical to Season Pass, Complete My Album grants users the alternative to buy an album at a price cheaper than purchasing each song individually.

Complete My Album works retroactively with purchases made previous to the new rule change, and can be accessed after logging in to the iTunes Store.

The following is an excerpt from the amended Apple Support Article regarding FAQs for Complete My Album.

good although they patently took their sweet time again to come around...

I suspect either of a couple scenarios may have occurred here - under Mr. Jobs there was no push from Apple to get that extended - or it was use not a priority. Or now that Mr. Cook has taken over a renewed push to get the record labels to agree to the change has been under way.

In fact Jobs or Cook may not even be a factor here - and it is pure speculation at this point I would think to even guess as to whether anyone was actively working on this and what if any the roadblocks may have been.

Don't forget that those with the distribution rights have only got that middle-man position that they have to hold onto as tightly as possible - imagine if a company such as Apple were to work directly with the content creators and there was no "record label" or "TV studio" in the middle - what kind of world would THAT be?

I think Apple dropped the 180-day time limit a long time ago. I recalled looking in the "Complete My Album" area of iTunes a few months ago, and it was still showing the option to buy discounted albums from songs I paid for back in 2009. I don't think anyone noticed, to be honest.

I think Apple dropped the 180-day time limit a long time ago. I recalled looking in the "Complete My Album" area of iTunes a few months ago, and it was still showing the option to buy discounted albums from songs I paid for back in 2009. I don't think anyone noticed, to be honest.

I agree i did notice it a long time ago. I think the only change is the Complete season on Tv Shows...

I think Apple dropped the 180-day time limit a long time ago. I recalled looking in the "Complete My Album" area of iTunes a few months ago, and it was still showing the option to buy discounted albums from songs I paid for back in 2009. I don't think anyone noticed, to be honest.

This.

I did notice, but I figured it was a silent rollout. Maybe they've just made an unofficial policy official? Either way, it works for me.

This is a good feature but as a new ATV2 user, seeing the rollout of TV Shows in Canada has highlighted some HUGE disappointments...

So few people who love shows could ever afford to purchase all from iTunes. It's just too expensive to get people to stop Pirating. Even with cutting cable and saving $ that way.

For example: The Comedy Network in Canada has The Daily Show @ 1.99/episode. They do have a multi pass. However, FULL episodes are available on their website with the minor inconvenience of watching 1 commercial per segment.

Now, The Wall Street Journal offers a 1 commercial model... Why can't more networks? I catch a ton of Daily Show/Colbert in a year and even with the current iTunes multi "deals" it would still cost an arm and a leg.

The crazy thing is that I'm only even talking about 2 programs!

Whatever Apple has in store for a television, it seems the key ingredient "MUST" is figuring out this content.

Everyone will just keep pirating until this gets figured out. Browsing through Movies & Shows on ATV makes you drool until you start doing some basic math. Ugh.

good although they patently took their sweet time again to come around...

Remember that Apple isn't the company with the real control. The record labels were perhaps not so keen on that "Complete My Album". After all they really wanted folks to buy the whole thing from the start. Having to rebuy a track or two would be, in their eyes, suitable punishment for not doing so.

For example: The Comedy Network in Canada has The Daily Show @ 1.99/episode. They do have a multi pass. However, FULL episodes are available on their website with the minor inconvenience of watching 1 commercial per segment.

Either one of which is better than folks getting their shows via torrent

That said, I really feel like the time has come to either drop the SD files or drop the price to 99 cents on those. ANd to add a new level of HD which is 1080p and 5.1 even if at say 1/4 to 1/3 the bit rate of a blu ray. And more movies with Extras like the new Avatar release, perhaps also tv shows, but also adding some way to see that stuff at least on the Apple TV if not iOS in general

Remember that Apple isn't the company with the real control. The record labels were perhaps not so keen on that "Complete My Album". After all they really wanted folks to buy the whole thing from the start. Having to rebuy a track or two would be, in their eyes, suitable punishment for not doing so.

Remember that Apple isn't the company with the real control. The record labels were perhaps not so keen on that "Complete My Album". After all they really wanted folks to buy the whole thing from the start. Having to rebuy a track or two would be, in their eyes, suitable punishment for not doing so.

Remember that Apple isn't the company with the real control. The record labels were perhaps not so keen on that "Complete My Album". After all they really wanted folks to buy the whole thing from the start. Having to rebuy a track or two would be, in their eyes, suitable punishment for not doing so.

That 'punishment' is *exactly* why I almost never bought any TV shows on iTunes. There's always been a series or two that I missed watching live and would like to go back and watch, but there's no way I could afford an entire season up front, especially if I didn't like it, and until now there was no way to dip in slowly and pay for a few episodes without the fear of knowing that if I wanted to buy the whole season I'd have to rebuy the shows I already purchased. That sucked.

I'm glad Apple is renegotiating with the content providers and allowing them to see the light on this issue. I want to pay for content, and I'll gladly pay any price that's fair and reasonable for what I'm getting. Being able to spare a few bucks here and there for trying out shows, knowing that it will always be available for redownload through iCloud and I'll be discounted the difference if I decide to buy the rest of the season, means I'll be much more likely to pay for TV shows through iTunes going forward. Kudos.

Now, The Wall Street Journal offers a 1 commercial model... Why can't more networks? I catch a ton of Daily Show/Colbert in a year and even with the current iTunes multi "deals" it would still cost an arm and a leg.